SB 277 is now scheduled for a hearing in the Assembly Health Committee. This will be the last committee hearing on SB 277. If SB 277 passes out of this committee, there will be a floor vote by the whole Assembly before this bill is sent to the Governor for his signature.

This is a fundamental parent’s rights issue. Because of opposition from good people like you, SB 277 has gotten more attention in our State Capitol than any other bill in the last several years. We will continue to closely monitor SB 277 and keep you informed when any future action is needed.

Information Included In This E-mail:A. StatusB. Summary of ConcernC. Action ItemsD. Opposition Points to Share with LegislatorsE. Background Information

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SB 277 will be heard by the Assembly Health Committee on June 9th.

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B. Summary of Concern:

SB 277 eliminates the current right of parents to exempt their child from one or more of the vaccinations required for school enrollment.

SB 277 would take away the historic parental right to independently make informed voluntary decisions regarding the health care of their children, including the choice of which vaccines, if any, their children will receive. This is known as “informed consent”.

SB 277 has been amended to exclude pupils enrolled in home-based private schools from the required vaccinations. However, nothing would stop our Legislature from removing this exclusion in future legislation. The amendments to this bill could be changed or deleted at any time.

SB 277 needs to be defeated because of its threat to the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.

We must continue to stand firm and be persistent in our opposition to SB 277!

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C. ACTION Items:

The most critical action items are at the top of this list. Please move down the list and complete as many additional items on the list as you can. Always contact legislators as a parent and citizen. Do not call or write as a homeschooler.

1) Call Immediately –By 4pm this coming Monday, June 8th, call the member of the Assembly Health Committee according to the first letter of your Last Name as indicated in the alphabetized list below. It is best to call between 9:00am and 4:00pm.

Tell them:

“Please vote no on SB 277 (by Pan), as recently amended because I oppose eliminating this historic right of parents to exempt their children from receiving a vaccine required for school attendance.”

2) Please also consider calling some or all of the rest of the Assembly Health Committee members on the list below. Be sure to call the Assembly Member who represents your district if they are a member of this committee. Please use this link to find out which Assembly Member is representing your district: http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Notes:

Always contact legislators as a parent and citizen. This bill affects all families with children.

This is not an exclusively homeschool issue. Do not call or write as a homeschooler.

Do not disclose the source of this Alert. All bills are available on the Internet.

Pass this on to your friends, church, school, and group.

Pray for a proper outcome.

For Action Item #1 above, please call the member of the Assembly Health Committee according to the first letter of your last name, as indicated in the following list. If the Assembly Member representing your district is in the following list please call them first. Then please also call as many others on this list as you can.

D. Opposition Points to Share with Legislators:SB 277 significantly diminishes parental rights, religious liberties, and personal conscience liberties. It imposes a requirement that will take away the right of a parent to exempt their child from any or all vaccinations required for school enrollment.

Current law already allows for non-vaccinated students to be restricted from attending a school while there is an outbreak of particular communicable diseases.

SB 277 is a violation of the fundamental right of parents to direct the care and upbringing of their children.

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E. Background Information:The following are additional but important details related to the bill.

Under current law, a parent may exempt their child from any or all vaccines required for school attendance, by using the “personal beliefs exemption”.

SB 277 would delete from California law the “personal beliefs exemption” from required vaccinations.

SB 277 would erode the traditional and God-given right of parents to make voluntary decisions in the best interest of their children in all health care decisions.

All parents should be able to voluntarily choose: (1) which medical service to use for the life and health of their dependent children, (2) which provider they use for that service, and (3) which sources of information to use regarding any medical service/intervention and service provider(s).

It is wise for parents to aggressively seek out good information from multiple sources, concerning the risks of and alternatives to any medical care, procedure or treatment, prior to making a decision concerning a medical service (intervention, care, costs, etc., including every vaccination) for their child.

Currently, the majority of information provided about vaccinations is heavily weighted toward sending a message that all vaccines work and are good for your children with only rare and temporary discomfort. Very little, if any, information is sent from most medical, media, and government sources on facts concerning why some vaccines have a lower rate of conferred immunity. Nor is information made readily available regarding the harmful and sometimes deadly or permanently disabling effects of particular vaccines due to their contents, and how and when and under what conditions they are given. Very few studies have been done on the long-term effects of vaccines.

Medical ExemptionsUnder SB 277, the only way a child could be exempted from one or more required vaccines would be to obtain a medical exemption from a physician, which is difficult to obtain. Medical exemptions are usually given for only one vaccine at a time. They are only given after a serious reaction has already occurred from a previous vaccine or a physician determines that a vaccine is contraindicated due to allergies or some other physical condition of the child.

A medical exemption must be documented by a letter from a physician stating who the exemption is for and for what vaccine. It must specify whether it is a permanent or temporary exemption. If temporary, the exemption must state how long the temporary exemption is valid.

Religious ExemptionsNo religious exemption would be helpful because almost all parents would be ineligible due to the very narrow restrictions. These exemptions only apply to those people who are members of a religious institution, denomination, or organized group whose official statement of belief or creed includes a prohibition against ever seeing a doctor or receiving medical treatment of any kind, no matter how serious the health emergency.

ConclusionSB 277 is a major incremental step toward taking away the right and responsibility of parents to make decisions for the care and protection of their own children in every part of life, including medical care.

Examples of other areas in which parental rights are being undermined include the area of education (we are again battling mandatory kindergarten in a new bill: AB 713), mental health, religion and philosophy of life, social life (can a parent restrict a child from certain things on the internet, friends, books, etc., or any other influences?). Another example is the recent alarming “medical kidnappings” of minors for medical procedures and treatments forced on children without either permission from their parents or allowing parents to get a second opinion. For more information on these kinds of parental rights violations visit www.parentalrights.org .

Parents need to understand the bigger picture of what is at stake here. This isn’t just about vaccines. Regardless of what we think about any mandatory vaccine, we must protect the rights of parents to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children.

We must be vigilant to hold our ground against SB 277. Your help is key to the defense of our freedoms. Please take the above-suggested action ASAP. Quickly pass this alert on to others who might respond.